The present disclosure generally relates to turbochargers for internal combustion engines, and more particularly relates to a turbine assembly for a turbocharger, and to a method for operating a turbocharged internal combustion engine system.
A turbine assembly of a turbocharger for an internal combustion engine generally must be able to operate with acceptable performance over a range of exhaust gas flow rates as engine operating conditions change. Depending on the engine characteristics, in some cases this requires a fairly sophisticated variable-geometry nozzle in the turbine assembly to regulate the flow of exhaust gas into the turbine wheel as the engine operating condition changes.
In some applications there is a desire to avoid such variable-geometry nozzles and instead use a simpler fixed-geometry turbine nozzle. The challenge presented in some cases is achieving a sufficiently wide flow range capability with the fixed geometry.